Fitch Ratings Urges Global CDO Investors To Get 'S.M.A.R.T'.Business Editors NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 18, 2004 The latest tool in Fitch's rating arsenal will, quite literally, help investors get 'smart' about the dynamic global collateralized debt obligation Collateralized Debt Obligation (CDO) A general inclusive term which covers Collateralized Bond Obligations, Collateralized Loan Obligations, and Collateralized Mortgage Obligations, (CDO (Collaborative Data Objects) A programming interface from Microsoft for accessing MAPI-based e-mail, calendaring and scheduling servers. Originally called "OLE Messaging" and "Active Messaging," CDO wraps the Enhanced MAPI library into a COM object that provides the ) markets, according to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. an article appearing in the latest edition of the 'Global CDO Quarterly' newsletter by Fitch Ratings Fitch Ratings An international rating agency for financial institutions, insurance companies, and corporate, sovereign, and municipal debt. Fitch Ratings has headquarters in New York and London and is wholly owned by FIMALAC of Paris. . S.M.A.R.T, or Surveillance Metrics Analytics Research and Tools, is a web application that combines deal-enhanced deal-specific surveillance, CDO benchmarking metrics, and market research with its enhanced portfolio analytics. 'With pockets of weakness still evident in some underlying U.S. CDO asset classes and a relatively sluggish recovery in the credit environment in Europe, punctuated by isolated credit events, greater transparency in the global CDO sector is sorely needed,' said Kevin Kendra, Senior Director, Fitch Ratings. 'S.M.A.R.T allows investors to better prepare themselves for the characteristically dynamic nature of CDOs by providing them with greater insight into Fitch's analysis of the risks present in a CDO transaction,' said Shaun Baddeley, Senior Director, Fitch Ratings. S.M.A.R.T is the latest innovation by Fitch's global CDO group in its efforts to provide greater market transparency that began with the launch of Fitch's global synthetic index last year, to Fitch's state-of-the-art Default VECTOR model, which has been recently enhanced to include worldwide and expanded structured finance asset correlations, and most recently, the introduction of FitchCDx, which concentrates exclusively on bringing greater transparency to the credit default swaps Credit Default Swap A swap designed to transfer the credit exposure of fixed income products between parties. Notes: The buyer of a credit swap receives credit protection, whereas the seller of the swap guarantees the credit worthiness of the product. (CDs) market. Fitch discussed its new product offerings along with other evolving CDO credit trends as part of a Global Credit Derivatives Credit Derivative Privately held negotiable bilateral contracts that allow users to manage their exposure to credit risk. Credit derivatives are financial assets like forward contracts, swaps, and options for which the price is driven by the credit risk of economic agents (private Forum, which was presented on Feb. 18 in New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of . Fitch will be similarly presenting a Global CDO Forum to be held Tuesday March 24 at Barber-Surgeon's Hall in London. Other articles appearing in this edition of 'Global CDO Quarterly include more information on FitchCDx, a trend piece on short-term funding in CDOs, and Fitch's global CDO Outlook for 2004. 'Global CDO Quarterly' is available on the Fitch Ratings web site at 'www.fitchratings.com'. |
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